Mie Mari Ma'am
Hello, friends! My name is Mari, and I’m from Team Lari!
Previously on the Team Lari channel, Mari was trying to learn all of the Japanese prefectures. She was able to reach 23 of 47 while at the same time bother Laurel with trying to recite all the of the names she learned. Now that Mari is finished with the Chubu, Kanto, Tohoku, and Hokkaido regions, it is time to traverse way over to the Kansai region.
Today we shall start with the Prefecture Mie, 24 of 47. What will Mari learn about the prefecture? How will she present her findings? Will she stop talking in the third pov? Next time, on 3 Cats 2 Waifus 1 Love.
If we are going to be talking about Mie, then we need to understand two of the most important foundations located in this prefecture; the Shinto religion and Ninjas.
The Shinto religion isn’t something I’ve really talked about at length. About 80% of the Japanese population believes in the ritualistic nature of the religion. Whereas Buddhism is about paying homage to deities, Shintoism is about paying homage to purity and the spirits associated with purity. A such, Shintoism is more of a way of life, keeping clean, tidy, and purified.
For example, in almost all Japanese homes, there is a front parlor meant for the owners and guests to take off their shoes to keep their residence today and pure. It’s not just about dirt and grime, but to maintain in good aura within one’s living space. Even at schools, one must take off his or her shoes and instead where appropriate slippers. At most shrines, there is a water station to clean hands, keeping one pure. In fact, the Tori gate featured above is usually built in water to amplify purification means. In this way, one is able to keep in touch with Kami, or earthly spirits.
If you want to learn more about Shintoism, you can go to think below. The video was pretty helpful for me!
https://youtu.be/LoQqxdAbRS0
In Mie, the most important Shinto Shrines in Japan are located in Ise Shima. If one walks through the popular approach to these shrines, the Oharaimachi, then s/he can witness the Inner Shrine. The Inner Shrine is the most sacred and popular Shinto Shrine in all of Japan. Next, there are the Outer Shrines, the nest two important shrines. While in Ise Shima, one may also visit the cities of Toba and Shima, and perhaps see the former guesthouse that many high ranking pilgrims stayed at, Hinjtsukan.
I know that Laurel would love to visit these shrines. She is highly interested in Shintoism, and if I had a religion to choose, I feel pretty close to the religion of Shinto.
As for the ninja, it’s best to understand that the stereotypes seen today aren’t usually what true ninjas partook of. I’m looking at you, “Naruto.” (PS: Kakashi for the win.)
Actual Ninjas weren’t even trained in martial arts. They were instead involved in espionage, strategy, and stealth as part of the Ninjustu ways. Their job was to learn about the energy and whittle them down. If a ninja did use a sword, they were considered the lowest on the ranked ninja ladder. The ones with the wits sat at the top of the chain. In all, Ninjas did not go in and assassinate enemies like shadows in the dark. Instead, they took their time, absorbed information, and meticulously planned.
If you want to learn more about real ninjas (because I’m still not too informed on the matter) you can visit the link below.
https://www.iganinja.jp/en/about/ninja.html
So, the home of where most ninjas were born is at Iga Ueno. Iga Ueno is comprised of two large cities and five smaller villages formed in 2004. Woah, that was back in my freshman year of high school! At Ueno, you can find the spot where the famous feudal ninja school was founded. There’s the ninja museum now, and the place will tell you all about ninjas, what they used, what their lifestyle were like, and the impact they made on history. There are artifacts galore, and I sure want to check the place out.
Aside from the show stealer ninja hideout, one may traverse to the Sunoco School that was originally built in 1821 for children of samurai’s education. When the school was destroyed in 1854, it took six years to rebuild the structure. Even then, it was mostly used as a library until recently, where it’s been resurrected as a national historical site. There’s also the Ueno Castle. It’s famed for being the one castle in Japan that has the highest barricade walls of 30 meters high. There’s also the plus of pretty cherry blossom trees surrounding the perimeter of the stronghold.
Alright, I bet you didn’t think you’d learn about Ninjas and Shintoism in this post on Mie, huh? Well, me neither. I hope you had as much fun as I did!
See you next time!